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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is McKay, and I'm a part of the online team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Matt, teaching from our series, the gospel of Matthew. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. Now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If I asked you, what's something extraordinarily special about you, something that's extraordinarily valuable to you that you've never really thought about, what do you think it would be? Like, don't shout it out loud. Let me write it down, but but what what's something of value that you don't consider, that you don't think about, that you've never never even in your life thought about? And the thing I wanna talk about is the value of your word. Like, is your word valuable?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do people trust your words? See here's the thing about your word. Jesus says your words will condemn you or save you. Now think about that. Now if you're a Christian go, wait, wait, we're saved by Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Yes. But the bible says we're saved by Jesus when we call upon his name. You see, it's with our words. Our mouth confesses that we believe in Jesus. See, our words are powerful.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I wanna talk today about how to unleash the power of your words. You have power with inside you. God has given you a voice. And I want you to learn to exercise that voice today with integrity. Now we're studying the book of Matthew and we've been in chapter five for like six weeks.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't know how long but we're gonna be here for a long time because Jesus has a lot to say in Matthew five thirty three through 37. So let's take a look at this together. This is the teaching of Jesus. Let's look at this together. He says again, you know, he's just keeps talking again and again and again.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, again, you've heard that it was said to those of old. You shall not swear falsely. Anybody ever had somebody swear falsely to you, lie, promise, and they didn't keep it? He says, but you shall perform to the Lord you shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. You see, your word matters.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says this, but I say to you, do not take an oath at all either by heaven for it is the throne of God or by earth for it is his footstool. Or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king. Listen to this, man. It's so good. And do not take an oath by your excuse me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do not take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black. Amen? Those of us are getting older. You can't even can't control that. Let what you say be simply a yes or a no.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Anything more, man, listen to this, comes from evil. You see Jesus teaches, now listen to me, God wants me to keep my word. To keep my word. I had a Christian once ask me to break my word. Actually, we were buying this building that I'm standing in right now, it was an $11,000,000 building, and our real estate agent was not a Christian.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And someone in our city asked me to violate that contract because they were a Christian. They asked me as a Christian to violate God's word because they were a Christian. It's a crazy world out there. And I said, no no no no. I'm not going to enter into an agreement with you because I've already given my word to this agent.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he said, well did you sign a contract? I said not yet but I gave my word. Okay? And that's important as Christians. Our words should be our bond.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:K? God says once you've said it, you need to stick to it. That's what you need to do. Now Matthew five thirty three. Look at this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Again, you have heard it said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. When I am gonna do something, listen to me, I do it. I do it. If you wanna grow up in your Christian faith, you wanna grow up as a disciple, don't just talk about things. Anybody have a friend that's always talking and never doing?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean I mean there's so many people. My whole life, there's talkers and there's doers. Jesus wants you to be a doer. Stop talking about it. Just do it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like if you're gonna get in shape, let's do it. K? If you're gonna get that degree, let's do it. If you're gonna, you know, go for a promotion, then let's do it. Stop talking about it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Be a doer. So but here's the thing. Don't just be a doer. Be a finisher. Because sometimes if you're like me and you got a big mouth, we jump into some things that maybe we shouldn't have jumped into.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But listen to me. When I commit look at this. When I commit to something, I finish it. I don't always like it but I finish it. My wife and I we've been married for almost thirty years.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:There's been days I've loved it. And there's been moments where I didn't like it. But let me tell you something. When I asked for her hand in marriage, her dad told me, you know marriage is a long time. And then he held up a pair of glasses that were broken because he broke them and thrown them against the wall because she made him mad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She said, she's not easy. And I was like, but I love her. I was just so young and stupid. Like, I'll always listen. But you know what?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's in heaven, but I'm still here on earth, and I still to this day have kept my word to his father. Cause even though he's gone, my word still has to be here. I stood in front of him and I gave my word. I stood in front of God at church and I gave my word. I stood in front of all my family and friends and I gave my word.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, your word is valuable. It is. Your word is valuable. So here's the thing you need to know. That God wants me to keep my word.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Number two, look at this though. God does not want to be dragged into my lies. Some of the biggest brokenness and pain that I've had to try to heal is people that have come to us from other churches who have been wounded by lies. Who've been wounded by people in the name of God who hurt them, who rob them, who did all kinds of things to them. And so oftentimes, listen to me, liars love to involve God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They love to involve God. Right? I swear to God, liars, did you just see what I just did? Love to involve God. Now we're gonna talk about that in a second, why you shouldn't do what your pastor just did.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay? Proverbs twelve twenty two. Look at what God says. The Lord detests I love that word. We don't use that enough.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I detest that. The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth. You need, as a Christian, to learn to speak the truth. It's so important. Jesus says this in Matthew five thirty four through 35 through 35.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven for it is the throne of God or the earth for it's his footstool. Jesus is saying, look, God doesn't wanna be involved in your lies. He doesn't wanna be involved in that. And it starts off when we're kids. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:When your kids are little, it's so cute. Do you pinky swear? Do you pinky swear? Right? And parents when your kids are doing that with you, what is what are they saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't trust your word mom and dad. Give me a pinky swear. Come on. And then you get older, you're a teenager, you swear in your momma's grave. That's just gross.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And your mom's not even dead, that's weird, right? But listen to this one, I swear to God. I swear to God. Now if you're a Christian, that's just wrong. Now in the eighties, we said this, cross my heart and hope to die stick a needle in my eye.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's the eighties was just wrong. Okay? It was wrong. I don't know why you got elementary school kids sticking needles in their eyes, but that's what we would say. But here's the thing is, when you have to add to your promise, there's a problem with your promise.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what Jesus is saying. And the more you put on it, the less stable it is. Leviticus nineteen twelve. This is God speaking. Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do you know in our country when you went to court, you used to have to put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Now some of you think, well, America's, you know, we're going to hell and we got away from that. But you need to know it was actually Christians that protested that. Because he said it was a violation of what God's word actually said. And so now you can just simply affirm to say the truth and nothing but the truth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You can just do that. It wasn't atheists or progressives, it was Christians who said, hey, when we read Jesus, I don't think we're supposed to be swearing in God's name to tell the truth. Because here's the thing, if you have to call on his name for your word, there's a problem with your word. And so what you need to do is just say, you know what? I'm not gonna add all of this flowery language, I'm just gonna speak God's word.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So if you're new to Christianity, or you're thinking about it, the easiest way to speak the truth, k, you ready for it? Is to keep it simple. Just keep it simple. It it this couldn't be easier. If you're looking for an easy week to come to church, this is it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay? You don't even have to tithe on this. I mean, you should, but you don't have to. Listen to what he says. He says, and do not take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What he's saying is, look, you need to know who you are. He says, let what you say be simply yes or no. Now that's hard. But listen to me, the bigger the promise, the more likely the lie. The bigger the promise, the more likely the lie.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Parents, I want to encourage you. If you blow it with your kids, just say, I blew it. I gave you my word and I wasn't able to do it. Right? Because sometimes we make a commitment to our kids and things things happen.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Life happens. That's an important lesson for kids to learn. We don't always get to do what we want to do even when we've committed to it. And if you don't believe me, just go drive on the freeways. You may not get there.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know, I'm coming. You're not coming. You're not going anywhere. You're on the 91 Freeway until Jesus comes.
McKay Vandenberg:Sandals Church, thank you so much for joining us today. Before we jump in today's message, I just wanted to invite you to partner with Sandals Church and the work that we are doing. One way that you could do that is by giving financially at give.sc. Now let's get back to our message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's it's an important lesson for kids to learn that sometimes you make a commitment and you can't follow through because you're not God. You're you're unable. And so you don't say, well, mommy's really promising this time or I pinky swear or I triple swear or I promise in front of God, you just say, you know what, I blew it. I messed up. And I want you to know that I'm going to work really hard to make that up to you, and we're going try to do it next weekend.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So be careful with promises because you shouldn't promise things you don't know that you can do. One of the most important things to your kids is to build trust. And sometimes we we wanna do things for them. We hope that things can happen. Listen to this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We intend. Like our intent is not to lie, our intent is for it to happen. But it doesn't happen. And we gotta let kids know, hey, mommy and daddy blew it, we misspoke, we're not perfect either, it's okay. One of the hardest things as your pastor, when I was young is I made a lot of promises, I made a lot of commitments.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't know if you know this but I said a lot of things. Okay? And it's really hard to undo those things because sometimes I spoke out of ignorance, sometimes I know this is hard to believe, but I spoke out of arrogance. And here's the thing, I was wrong. I was wrong.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And a lot of people wanted to hold me accountable to the stupid things I said and I had to just back up and say you know what I didn't know. I didn't know. And I was wrong. And so learn to just say that. Just say I was wrong.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And back it up when you've made a mistake or you were incorrect or even if you lied. Just say, you know what? I lied. I'm sorry. Okay?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Proverbs ten nineteen. This is this is great. This is this should be if you ever wanted to pay for a tattoo for me, this would be a good one for me to get right across my forehead. Proverbs ten nineteen. When words are many, sin is unavoidable.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now, for those of you who are laughing at me, just so you know, excessive talking is an ADHD response. I have a disease. It's real. K? We need more support groups.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But when I get nervous, when I get anxious, when I'm upset, when I'm afraid, when I'm excited, my response is to blah blah. And so I say stupid things. I overshare. You know? I I constantly am doing this, you know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, if has anybody ever done it and you share I share embarrassing information. I just share stuff you shouldn't know. Know, I'm giving my address and my phone number to a stranger, you know, with his knife in his hand. I'm like, oh, you look safe. Okay?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:When words are many, sin is unavoidable. So, if you're married and you're fighting, how long should the talk be? Short. The shorter the better. One person got it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Short. And it could go something like this. I don't like you. You don't like me. Let's go to our corners.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But here's the thing is, ever been in a fight with your spouse, with your kids, with your best friend, and at some point in time in the fight, you don't even know what you're fighting about any anymore, but you know you're hurt. It's because things just got out of control. And here's the thing is, the more you talk sometimes, the worse it gets. So take a break, and I would really encourage you fight about one thing. Just say this is the one thing we're gonna fight about and there's nothing else that we're gonna fight about.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it's so hard to do that, right? Because when you're losing you gotta bring stuff in. You know, you're like, I gotta call a witness. But you know in relationships, the goal is not to win the argument, the goal the goal is to restore the relationship. And so if you're trying to win, right, you're gonna fight about a bunch of stuff.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're trying to restore, it's okay to just say, look, here's how I feel, here's what I think, here's what I did, here's what I think you did. And just keep it really really short. Listen to this. But he who restrains his lips is wise. I'm just being real pastor.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No, you might be being rude. It's so important, listen to me, to give a simple yes or a simple no. So let me tell you something that's happening right now. Some of you didn't know this, but all the major surf companies are going out of business. Ruka, Rip Curl, Volcom, all of these stories, all of these companies that I've loved for years.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And part of that's culture has changed, kids want to shop, know, they don't want a label but they'll get a label from a thrift store. You know what saying? So they're just trying to adjust to how culture is changing. But Hobie is is still alive, making it and and I and I love Hobie. And here's the thing I want you to know about Hobie.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's a real person. That's that's how he spelled his name. You know? It's really cool name. Nobody names her boys anymore but I love But here's why I love Hobie, you know he's from the Inland Empire?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So he's from the Inland Empire, his dad was a construction worker and they didn't have AC in the nineteen thirties and so in the summer they would go to the beach to escape hell on earth which is the IE in the summer, amen? And so they would go to the beach and he asked to borrow his dad's tools and he started making surfboards. And so then he met his best friend, we'll call him Richard, you can pray about what I mean there. And you know they went into business together and they started the first surf shop. They sold the surfs the first surfboards and listen to me, they were in business their whole life until they died and they never signed a contract.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They just gave each other their word. That's it. Can you imagine that? Now a lot of things have changed about America since the nineteen fifties. Can we agree?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now here's the thing. That's not just America, it's also the church, it's also Christians. From time to time we have to raise money to build things, to build this building, to build a new campus, to revamp, right? I mean every building that you're sitting in, even if you're watching online from home, these things are not free. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like when we buy cameras they're like, oh you're a church at a discount 100%. That's not what they say. Okay? Everything costs and so we have to raise money. And we used to do these things called pledges.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was actually in LA this last weekend helping a church. They're trying to raise like $20,000,000 to buy a building which I actually think is cheap for LA. I was like you guys got a deal. But I mean nobody wants to raise $20,000,000. It's it's difficult.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And we do these things called pledges because I don't about you but I don't have $20,000,000 at home to just give the church a check. And so people will pledge and here's the thing I've learned, the bigger the pledge usually it's just not true. And and here's the thing is we've had people pledge millions of dollars to Sandals Church. And oftentimes, people, guess what they give? Zero.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Zero. So just be realistic about what you can do. And when you say, hey, I'm gonna do this, do it. God's never going to lead you to commit to something that you can't do. So just say, Hey, here's what I think we can do.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's what I feel like God's calling me to do. And do it, whatever it is. But I love Hobie, I love the brand, I'm glad they're still going to make it, and it's an amazing, amazing story. So I want you to think about your life. What would happen today if you started honoring your word with whatever you said?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And you said, you know what I said I'm gonna do it. And it's not always fun. Okay? Because I say yes to all things all the time and then we're going there and I'm like Tammy why are we headed here? And she's like because you said yes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm like why do I have to be a person of my word? Okay? So why not just lie? Well I couldn't make it, something came up. We got stuck in traffic, I totally forgot, I overcommitted, I double booked.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean you know all the lies you strategize about how not to hurt their feelings so you don't have to show up to the birthday party that you never wanted to go to anyways. Here's why you don't lie. Look at this. Lying gives the devil power in my life. Let me just tell you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like if you want more Satan in your heart, more Satan in your home, start lying. Jesus says, let let what you say look at this. Let what you say simply be yes or no. Listen to Jesus. Anything more than this comes from where?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Evil. Who is the father of evil? It's not God. It's Satan. Here's what Jesus says about Satan.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he actually insults some people. So if you're new to church from time to time, Jesus lets it rip. So hold on. John eight forty four. You know, for you are the children of your father, the devil.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:K? See I've never been that harsh. Jesus is just like, you wanna know who your mama is? You wanna know who your daddy is? Satan.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:K? For you are children of your father, the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. Here's what's interesting. He's talking to religious leaders. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you've been hurt at church, hurt by the church, it's not just the Holy Spirit that's in the church. Satan loves being in the church. Satan loves being in leadership. Satan loves to be in small group. Satan loves to serve on teams.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My wife and I were talking about this last week, and one of our friends was really, really hurt at church. So I reminded Tammy that when the first Lord's Supper happens now think about this. When the first Lord's Supper happens, Jesus is surrounded by his 12 disciples. This is like I mean, how many of guys would agree this is a pretty holy moment? A couple of you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The other of you, I I don't know. I don't know. Okay. There's a reason that's why we still do it to this day. It's a pretty holy moment.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus is there with his best friends. These are the people that he's poured into. These are the people that he's gonna build the church on. One of them is Judas. At the first Lord's Supper ever taken, Jesus says to Judas as he puts his hand, grabs his hand and puts it, the bread into the juice.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, go and do what you must do. Listen to this. Some of you have never thought about this. At that moment, at the table with God in the first Lord's Supper, Satan enters Judas. Where was Satan the whole time?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right there. Right there. And just remember that the next time you're mad at the church, the next time you get hurt by somebody in the church, it's not just Jesus, it's not just the Holy Spirit that's here. Satan hates the church. He hates the church.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why? This is what Jesus says. He has always hated what? The truth. He's an enemy of the truth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why do you think so many young people today say, I just wanna tell my truth. I'd say you mean your story? You mean you want to share your heart? There's not your truth or my truth, there's the truth. And I realize that's offensive but that's one of things the devil has done to our culture.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's always hated the truth. Why? Jesus says, because there is no truth in him. Listen to this. Jesus says when Satan lies, he is consistent with his character.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Never forget this for he is a liar and the father of lies. Now we've all lied. Isn't that scary? Your little cute kid, who ate the cookie? I don't know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, there's Satan right there with a two year old, you're like, oh my lord, you know. Think about all the times you've lied, all the times you've fudged the truth. Those are invitations for the devil to come in. So if you're new to Christianity, here's how the spiritual realm works. It is a realm of law and order.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay? That's why God gave the law. And Satan can only do things according to the law and order of God when you give him permission. So when we lie, we give him permission. Now, I'm not saying this to judge you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I've struggled with lying. Why is that? I'm a good talker. Right? That's my supernatural strength.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The better you are at talking, oftentimes the better you are at lying. So we have to work on this. So here's what I want you to say, I don't want to beat you up, I want to set you free. Let me tell you why I think you should speak the truth. Even if you're not a Christian yet today, and you don't understand the value of the church.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So here's why we come to church. The Bible says the church is the pillar and the foundation of truth. Here's why you need church in your life. Here's why you need to make this a regular habit. Just like you go to the gym for your body, you come to church for your soul.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And you exercise your soul. You exercise spiritual disciplines. And here's the thing, if you start exercising truth, these things will happen. Speaking truth will, listen to this, release me from a ton of stress and anxiety. Why are our young people overwhelmed with stress and anxiety?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because our phones cause us to live a lie. What's happening with so many of these people? They're projecting a lie. I'm so happy. I'm so beautiful.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I feel so good about myself. Actually, say the more a couple posts online, the less healthy their marriage is. And we're all sitting at home, why
McKay Vandenberg:don't you love me like that? Why don't you talk to me about like that? Why don't you post about me like that?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And listen to me, because we're believing the lie. Yeah. We're believing the lie. So here's the thing I want you to know about lying. Lying stresses you out.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Lying gives you anxiety. How many of you guys know what a lie detector is? Does anybody know?
Audience:Probably, yeah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Don't raise your hand with confidence because then we're gonna hey why do you what happened that you had to take a lie detector test? So a lie detector test is a polygraph. So for those of you who don't know it's a tool, listen to me, that measures heart rate. It measures blood pressure. It measures your breathing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And listen to this my sweaty friends. It measures your sweat output. So a lie detector does not detect lies. It detects a response from your body that tends to spike when some people lie. Lying causes anxiety.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It causes stress. You wanna sleep better at night? Tell the truth. Tell the truth, man. There is nothing softer than the truth to sleep on.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's just a beautiful thing. So when I was gonna become your pastor, I had to commute to school each and every week on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I worked a full time full time job, Monday through Friday when I was your pastor. I went to school on Monday nights, Thursday nights, and all day Saturday. And that's how I did my master's degree.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I mastered divinity. And if you don't know what that word means, it means God. I mastered God, which is just a terrible name for a degree to give pastors. But I had one class left, one. And so I commuted and the 91 Freeway shut down and I missed the final.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I had to make it up. So I called doctor Kim, I said I missed the final. She said what happened, I said I got stuck on the 91 Freeway, she said I understand. She said come next Saturday I'm going be grading and I'll give you your test. So I show up to doctor Kim's office, wonderful woman, amazing professor.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I sit down in her office and she says, you know what, she says, don't have your test here. She says, I wanna give the final to you orally. Hey, now you're panicking, I'm like, I'm a talker baby. Some of you are great at writing. I'm great at talking.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So she says, you read this book right? Now she holds up a book, this is the bible, she holds up a book I've never seen in my life. This is my last class, If I pass this class, I'm a graduate. I'm out of school. I'm out of seminary.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Tammy has supported me for three years going to school or going to work every single day so that I could become your pastor so that we could have a life. Right? She says, have you seen this book? I've never seen this book a day in my life. But if I fail this class, I have to explain to my wife who sacrificed why I didn't read the syllabus and read that book.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She said, you you've you read this book. Right? I said, absolutely. Absolutely. She said, okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let's start the test. I'm gonna be graded whether I pass or fail my master's degree on a book I've never read. She starts asking me questions and I'm just talking and we're talking and it goes on for an hour and I like literally am fighting diarrhea the entire time, you know. And so she says okay that wraps it up. She says do you want to know what grade you got?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I'm dreading, I'm dying. And I said, sure, Doctor. Kim, I'd love to know my grade. And she said, you got an A. I just aced a test over something I've never read in my life.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I was like, come on baby. I said, thank you so much Doctor. Kim. I stepped out of her office, closed the door, and started to walk to my car. I just listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're a Christian, I just had a moment and I said, who am I? What am I about? See, here's the thing. Some of you are going to be tested to lie for a promotion, for a raise, for some extra money, for some extra influence, and this is how the devil does it, right? You've got to do this because it's for your family.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's for your church. And I just started to get ate up inside. And I said, know what? I cannot do this. I cannot be a Christian, I cannot be a minister, and know that I have passed my degree on a lie.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I go back in her office, knock on the door, Doctor. Kim, she said, did you forget something? I said, yeah. I forgot to tell you the truth. I said, when you asked me had I read that book, I told you yes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I said, I've never seen that book in my life. And doctor Kim said, wait, what class were you in? And I told her, she's like, I gave you the wrong final. I aced a final from a class I never took. Come on, Serge.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Come on. What's hilarious is she laughed about it. I'm like, I just lied to you for an hour. She was so sweet. She said, if you ace the final she said, you don't even have to take my finals.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She says, I know you're gonna do great. She got an a. She said, go tell your wife. And I told her, said, I'm a liar. I'm gonna tell my wife I'm a liar.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know, I'm not gonna fail. I got two little kids and daycare. You know? She's like, go tell your wife you passed. She said she said, you're gonna be a great minister.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She said, I'm glad you have a conscience. Yeah. Amen? Here's the thing. Here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you have never lived in the truth and you have no idea what that would feel like today. Here's what Jesus says in John eight thirty two. Jesus said, the truth will set you free. Amen. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I know it might be ugly for a while. Because what Jesus didn't tell you is the truth's gonna mess you up first. Right? I mean, the truth has a a right hook that's devastating. But in the end, it will set you free.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The way out is always the truth. Here's what darkness hates, the light. But here's the beauty of the light, it always wins. A couple of weeks ago when pastor Fredo talked about lust, I actually wish he would have had a candle up here. He said when he's struggling with lust, he's battling those desires, he sits down and he lights a candle, and I thought that's what we all need to do when we feel darkness encroaching on us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The light represents purity. It also represents Jesus' victory. This is what it says in in in first John, or excuse me, the Gospel of John chapter one. It says that darkness did not overcome him. It and let me tell you something.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Satan gave his best shot. But here's what the gospel says is that those of us who are followers of Jesus, we love the truth. We want it. We celebrate the truth. We live in the truth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I wanna encourage you, whatever that looks like for for you. Maybe that's you just admit to someone, I got a drinking problem. And here's the thing, people that love you probably know. You know, they probably know. Just share with somebody.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Maybe it's a pastor. Maybe you come forward for prayer at the end. Maybe you get in a group. Can I can I just share with you those of you who in small group and you lie every week, how's things great? Good.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And then you're divorced on Tuesday? That doesn't help. The truth will set you free. It will set you free. I remember one time someone at our church said, I can't tell my small group the truth because they'll all judge me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And here's the thing is, she had cheated on her husband. I knew that she was in a small group with six couples and four of them had overcome infidelity in their marriages. So here she is sitting in a small group afraid to share her infidelity when the majority of the people in that small group had all wrestled with the same thing, and yet none of them were sharing that. And they were all in that prison of judgment, that prison of guilt. And that's where Satan wants us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? Jesus wants to set us free. Because here's the thing, whatever you've done, whatever you've said, no matter how dark it was, the cross was brighter. It overcame it. It's better.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's more beautiful and Jesus can change you. But I want I want to share this to our young people that are overwhelmed with just anxiety and stress. So many young people aren't growing up and this this is not a put down. This is a build up. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're not getting their driver's license, many of them are not dating, some of you need to know that, they're not engaging with relationships. Right? They're choosing porn over actual relationships. They're not moving out, They're staying in. And so much of that I think is the enemy causing you to to live a lie.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And here's what Jesus says, he wants to set you free, look at, this is what the truth does. Do you know the truth? This is this is not my point. This is actually what psychologists say. It builds self confidence.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:When you speak the truth, it builds you up. Listen to Jesus, Matthew thirty three thirty four. He says, again, you've heard it said. So what what's Jesus quoting? He's quoting the Bible to Bible scholars.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You've heard it said, you know this, you know this. Listen to this confidence. Look at this. But I say to you. How does he have that confidence?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How does he have that grit? How does he have that power? It's because there's no greater power than the truth. He said, look, you may have studied this your whole life but I know you're confused. And he wants to set him free.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Think about that. If you started living in the truth, how confident you would be would be. Think about this. You wanna be great at your job? Do something that you believe in.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do something that you You wanna be a great salesman? Sell a great product. This is amazing. You gotta have this. Don't sell crap.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sell great stuff. Sell stuff that people actually need. And then you'll be great. Because here's the thing, you know if the product is crappy, you're never gonna feel good about yourself. If you're selling a lie, you will never be able to rejoice in the truth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It will build your confidence. The Apostle Paul actually says this in another book. He writes a letter to a young pastor. And, you know, the older Tammy and I get, the bigger a heart we have for young pastors. Because it's just really hard.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's a really, really hard thing to stand up and and to to say, look at me. I know. You know, listen to this. It's it's a scary thing. And the apostle Paul writes in the first three verses of Titus, and he says, what we're doing, listen to this, builds confidence for people.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:See, when you truly understand that there's nothing you could do that would make God not love you, there's nothing you've ever done that Jesus didn't already die for, Like like God already knows how bad you are and loves you anyways. God already knows how evil your sin was and he's already forgiven it in Christ if you just ask. And you know you're good. Right? You're good.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Think about how confident you'll be in life. You know? They actually have proven this with toddlers. Toddlers are super brave when they know mom and dad are always in the peripheral. They're they're more brave.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're more confident. When they can't see mom and dad, they're less confident. See, here's the thing. Imagine your life with God when you always know your father's right there. He's right there.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You got this interview. You got this. You can parent. That two year old is smaller, you got this. Think about that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. So now let me transition to to really all of us. This is huge because relationships are huge. If you speak the truth, it will strengthen trust with people who know me. Man, a lot of you in your marriage, listen to me, you don't have a love issue.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You have a trust issue. Okay. Let me just ask. Okay. And don't point to them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But how many of you know someone you love? You love them, but you don't trust them. Come on. I got family. You know what I'm saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Half of you. The rest of you need to get some real friends. You need to get out there. Because there's people that we love but we do not trust. I want you to know that Jesus Christ was both loved and trusted.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was both. Listen to what he says in John fourteen one. Now he's about ready to die. Can you imagine you're telling your kids, I'm gonna die, but don't be afraid. This is what he says.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Don't let your hearts be troubled. Like if I told you guys I'm dying, hopefully some of you would be sad. Couple of our young pastors would be like, it's about time. I need to exercise my gifts. Don't let your hearts be troubled.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Trust in God and trust also in me. Listen to me. You wanna make your spouse's anxiety lower? Be trustworthy. You wanna create a safe home for your children?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You wanna protect your kids? Be trustworthy. You want better friends? Be trustworthy. Look, want a promotion at work?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Be trustworthy. But there's even more to the truth, man. It's our last point. The truth will help me become more like Jesus. That's what a disciple wants.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:A disciple wants to be like Jesus. Colossians three nine and ten, don't lie to each other. Oh. Think about church, if we could live our vision of being real. Don't lie to each other.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and never forget these last words, and become like him. The goal of the Christian is to become like Jesus. Listen to me, the truth does not just change you, listen to me, it unleashes you. It unleashes you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The Bible says you're a slave to sin. The Bible says you're imprisoned by Satan. Jesus wants to set you free. Jesus wants you to learn to walk in the truth as he is in the truth. And here's what my prayer is for you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That you will see in yourself what God sees. That you will see the truth, listen to me, that the devil is afraid you might see. The truth of who you are, the truth of who you were made to be. Listen to me, Sandals Church, a son or daughter of the king of kings and the lord of lords, and you don't need to lie because as his child, you can and will speak the truth. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen. Let's pray, man. Let's ask God to help us to be more truthful with our words. Father, unleash the truth in us. The truth that we are loved children of God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The truth that you are a greater forgiver than we are a sinner. The truth God that there is nothing that we could do that would ever make you stop loving us. God, let us live in this truth. And let us be people of our word. We pray this in Jesus name.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen.
Morgan Teruel:Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have the YouTube playlist linked in the description. And if you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.